8-Year-Old Sky Brown is the Youngest Girl to Skate In Vans U.S. Open Pro Series

If you need further proof that kids can do anything they put their minds to, 8-year-old Sky Brown of Miyazaki, Japan, is it. She is officially the youngest girl to skate in the Vans U.S. Open Pro Series. Brown’s 5 year old younger brother, Ocean, is also a skating prodigy. The two also BMX and surf, among other sports.

Her first skating video showed the fearless athlete taking on a mini-ramp with no elbow- or kneepads and no helmet. It displays jaw-dropping talent, but drew the ire of those who were concerned for her safety. Since then, her skating videos have shown a well-padded youngster performing tricks.

According to the New York Times op-doc Gnarly in Pink, girls are twice as likely to drop out of sports by the age of 14. Rigid gender roles and the pressure to be more feminine are definitely contributing factors, especially as girls hit puberty and are told to feminize themselves or face rejection by potential partners.

The #ShePlaysWeWin campaign interviewed Brown regarding her love for the sport. When asked what skateboarding has taught her and how she’ll use it in life, she responded:

“It has taught me that if I try my best I can do anything. It doesn’t matter that I’m a girl or that I’m small. My heart is big and strong and I can be as good as or even better than the boys or even big people. Skating also teaches me to be brave and take risks. I don’t think or worry about stuff too much and just give it a try, and you never know you might actually make it. … When I’m older I think it’s gonna help me be a strong, tough, kickass woman.”

Brown gives some further sage advice to #ShePlaysWeWin:

“There are no rules and there are no limits, there is no proper way. Just go out there and do it your way, and just OWN your style! Not everyone may like it but the people that do, like you for you. … It might be a sport, but it’s definitely not a contest… not for me anyways.”

Laurel Dickman is an intersectional feminist, plus size model, stylist, and fat activist that can also be found via her blogs, Exile In Dietville and 2 Broke Bitches. She grew up in the south between Florida and North Carolina, migrating to the Portland, OR in 2005. All three places inform her perspective of the world around her a great deal. While in Portland, she worked with the Alley 33 Annual Fashion Show, PudgePDX, PDX Fatshion, Plumplandia, and numerous other projects over the near decade that she was there. In August of 2014, she moved to the Bay area with her partner, David and trusty kitty, Dorian Gray. She continues her body positive and intersectional feminism through various forms of activism, fashion, photography projects, and writing from her home in the East Bay. She can be reached at laurel@wyvmag.com and encourages readers to reach out to her to collaborate!